5th Story performed for the very first time at ‘The Big Reunion’ concert last night (21.02.14).
The newly-formed super-group roused fans at London’s Hammersmith Apollo with a set comprised of songs made famous by each of the band members, including Another Level’s Dane Bowers, Blazin’ Squad’s Kenzie, Gareth Gates, Kavana and Adam Rickitt.
The group’s set list featured Another Level’s ‘Freak Me’, Blazin’ Squad’s ‘Flip Reverse’, Adam’s ‘I Breathe Again’, Kavana’s ‘I Can Make You Feel Good’ and finally, closing the show, Gareth’s number one hit ‘Spirit in the Sky’.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz after the concert, Dane revealed it was "difficult" to gauge which songs fans would want to hear from the various band members’ back catalogues but knew ‘Freak Me’ – which was a number one single for Another Level – had to be included.
Reformed 1990s soul group Eternal surprised fans by introducing Bebe Winans onstage to sing their own number one hit, ‘I Wanna Be the Only One’, while former teen heartthrobs A1 entertained the crowd with songs such as ‘Take On Me’ and ‘Caught in the Middle’.
US band 3T paid an emotional tribute to their late uncle Michael Jackson by singing ‘Why’, their collaboration with the King of Pop, as family photos appeared on screens behind them.
Former Spice Girl Emma Bunton was among the celebrity names at the gig to support her fiancé Jade Jones and his band Damage, who serenaded the crowd with songs such as ‘Wonderful Tonight’.
The gig also marked the culmination of a painful reunion for short-lived girl band Girl Thing, who were created by Simon Cowell but were unceremoniously dropped by their record label after two songs.
The group performed their top 10 charting song ‘Last One Standing’, a cover of Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’, and for the first time they performed ‘Pure and Simple’ – the song which has been a source of contention on the second series of ‘The Big Reunion’.
Girl Thing claim they wrote parts of the track, which was eventually released by ‘Popstars’ winners Hear’Say and topped the charts in 2001.
The Hammersmith gig was attended by stars of ‘The Big Reunion’ 2013 including 911 and Atomic Kitten’s Liz McClarnon, as well as Kenzie’s pal Mark Wright, Keith Lemon, Mutya Buena and Laura Mvula.
The concert will air on ITV2’s ‘The Big Reunion’ on March 27.
5th Story perform for first time at Big Reunion gig
